Encircling cooperative transport in ants is categorized into coordinated and uncoordinated types. Coordinated cooperative transport is considered to be advantageous for ants because it transports food quickly without creating a deadlock. Contrarily, uncoordinated transport is slow and frequently becomes deadlocked. This study assessed the characteristics of uncoordinated cooperative transport, which has scarcely been studied before, through experiments performed on Formica japonica. Based on our experiment and analysis, we report that the transport speed remains unchanged with the number of transporters. We also found that pulling transporter ants often left the food item transiently as the transport speed decreased, and then went back to the item. Upon rejoining transport, the transport speed increased. This is presumably because the ants gain navigation information during the period that they leave the food. We propose that this ‘route reassessment’ behavior is important for transport coordination and navigation in F. japonica.

中文翻译：

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运输蚂蚁的路线重新评估提高了福米卡合作运输的速度和方向准确性

蚂蚁的环行协同运输分为协调型和非协调型。协调合作运输被认为对蚂蚁有利，因为它可以快速运输食物而不会造成僵局。相反，不协调的传输速度缓慢并且经常陷入僵局。本研究通过对 Formica japonica 进行的实验评估了以前几乎没有研究过的不协调合作运输的特征。根据我们的实验和分析，我们报告说运输速度随着运输车的数量保持不变。我们还发现，随着运输速度的降低，拉动运输蚁通常会暂时离开食物，然后再回到食物上。重新加入运输后，运输速度增加。这大概是因为蚂蚁在离开食物期间获得导航信息。我们建议这种“路线重新评估”行为对于粳稻的运输协调和导航很重要。